Mother, educator is remembered in Natick

Friday

NATICK - Christmas Day was Mary Nickerson's holiday, her husband said yesterday, and they always celebrated the season with an elaborate light show at their home near Fiske Pond.

Christmas Day was Mary Nickerson's holiday, her husband said yesterday, and they always celebrated the season with an elaborate light show at their home near Fiske Pond.

So it was somehow fitting, said James Nickerson, that Mary, his wife of 35 years, died on Christmas day.

"That was her holiday," said James Nickerson. "She was a Christmas person."

Mary Nickerson, 60, died following a six-year battle with Alzheimer's disease with family members close at hand. She served on the Natick School Committee, including a stint as chairwoman, in the 1990s, plus worked as a substitute teacher at the Kennedy Middle School, served on local PTOs, as a Town Meeting member and a Police Department employee.

A native of Hartford, Conn., Mary Nickerson earned her teaching degree from Morris Harvey College in West Virginia in 1970. She taught at St. Ann's in Dorchester during the early 1970s before she and her family moved to Natick.

In Natick, she was also a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1274 Ladies Auxiliary and the Natick Kiwanis Club.

"She was very active with the community," said James Nickerson.

It was James Nickerson and a friend who lit a Christmas tree and sailed it aboard a boat on Fiske Pond for two years in a row. The yuletide tribute to his wife was done in place of an elaborately decorated home, he said.

The floating Christmas tree twinkled with lights and was topped by a long red bow. The boat itself was rimmed by more lights, an American flag on the stern and a simple sign that read, "MARY" hung over the side.

Because of Mary's declining health, Nickerson did not launch the boat this year.

"It was no life she wanted," James Nickerson said of his wife's battle with the disease. "She was aware of it, she was very scared."

When the Daily News printed a photo of Nickerson's Christmas boat last year, he received letters and well-wishes from people across the region, he said.

"They just wanted to offer their prayers and thoughts," he said, noting he was touched by the messages. "She should be remembered as a very caring person, an example of what you can do to cheer people up."

Judy D'Antonio, who served with Mary Nickerson on the school board in the 1990s and became a good friend, remembered a polite woman who wouldn't be pushed around.

"If you were to meet Mary, you'd think she was a quiet person," said D'Antonio. "But when she had something to say, she wouldn't be intimidated by anybody."

She said Mary Nickerson was dedicated to her family and schoolchildren and worked "that extra little bit."

"She was a true friend," said D'Antonio. "I'm very proud of that."

William J. Donovan, who worked as the Kennedy school's principal for nine years before his 1994 retirement, remembered Nickerson as a dedicated substitute teacher who could keep a classroom disciplined during the day.

Among her other duties, she helped organize the eighth-grade trip to Washington, D.C., he said.

"The Kennedy Middle School is a better place even today because of her efforts," said Donovan, who knew Nickerson for 23 years.

At her final Natick School Committee meeting in March 1998, Mary Nickerson thanked teachers, school staff and her family for supporting her.

"I couldn't have done it without you guys," she said later during that meeting. "I love you."

A funeral Mass will be held today at St. Patrick Church at 11:30 a.m. Instead of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association or Partners Hospice.

(John Hilliard can be reached at 508-626-4449 or jhilliar@cnc.com.)

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